Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge (Disneyland)

[Stryker]

So APs can get unblocked for $99. Who didn't see this paywall coming?

 

[Scott W.]

Yeah, the thing is none of us should “want” the parks to be empty. It could easily cause Disney to rethink future investments/announcements at D23 this year.

This has been my fear after the last D23. For the first time in ages, Disney are spending massively on the parks and if it doesn’t pay off, this could be the last for a long time.

 

[Ron101]

That’s not really a deal. I don’t see any blocked passholders paying that price to get in for ONE day for the summer. This is only good if your pass is already unblocked and you want to bring someone who doesn’t have a pass.

 

[Mad Dog]

Disneyland just started a being a friend for $99 park hopper ticket for the summer. Desperate times.

Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders: Bring a Friend this Summer | Disney Parks Blog

What's interesting is their notice spread the word around on other new and/or updated attractions and didn't just concentrate on GESWL.

 

[Ryan]

So... if you're a premium passholder basically? That really doesn't help that much.

 

[Dustin]

So... if you're a premium passholder basically? That really doesn't help that much.

Or flex, which I guess now is like the middle ground between the two categories.

 

[Clive]

To be clear, they did this last summer, too, though I don't think the annual passholder could pay $99 to bypass a blackout.

This seems to indicate they are going to resist any unblocking of Deluxe APers for as long as humanly possible.

 

[Ryan]

Or flex, which I guess now is like the middle ground between the two categories.

Ah yes, true.

 

[Stryker]

From the way it's worded, APs can't even unblock themselves alone. They have to bring a friend with them so Disney gets at least $198 in ticket sales. This is another policy I can see them relaxing later if this new "deal" doesn't work out to their liking.

 

[youhow2]

I think what GESWL does at DHS is going to be crucial to the future of full scale IP lands for Disney. TSL didn't really end up as a strong attendance pull short of it's first week or two. Pandora has succeeded more on the strength of the really good FOP attraction than the land as a whole. New Fantasy Land never met expectations either. The first phase of Marvel at DC is fairly small, so what's to come after Spider Man isn't for sure yet. If DHS GESWL only ends up as a moderate success, Disney might end up backing off of these really expensive IP lands and go back to the concept of new IP attractions just placed in existing areas of their parks. I'm talking "Return on Investment' primarily, and single attractions might look more feasible if DHS GESWL doesn't deliver big time. It will certainly be interesting to watch what happens....Myself, I hope the GESWL areas get over this initial slump since I greatly prefer immersive new lands over individual attractions plucked down in an existing land/area.

The problem with SW:GE Is it's a glorified shopping mall with Star Wars attached to it. That approach to a themed land only worked with WWOHP because it is quite literally what those places you are experiencing are in the lore. You've read about the shops, the food, the experiences, seen them in the movies and now you get to go to a place and experience that yourself.

That's the strength of WWOHP, The land that started this whole thing.


Not one of these "mega themed" lands from Disney capture that in any kind of totality, and really the small things they did to inject their "Disney" brand all over the land has done disservice to the Star Wars brand (the same way some would argue TLJ did).



Some things just can't be "Disney", and as Disney acquires all of these new IP's, they will need to learn how to adapt them into their parks (and into media/ new experiences) based on the merits of the individual property vs the strength of Disney and their overarching brand, and just because it's Disney owned now does not give them power to do anything they want with it, as it will not only divide the fans, It damages the strength of the IP and then it becomes a coin-flip whether the changes will be accepted, or rejected.


The risk wasn't building Star Wars land... That's a no brainer... The risk was taking too much creative freedom with a newly acquired brand.

 

[fryoj]

This has been my fear after the last D23. For the first time in ages, Disney are spending massively on the parks and if it doesn’t pay off, this could be the last for a long time.

Yeah, and I'm fearing this will also result in higher prices, when those are probably having a huge effect on weaker crowds. They blame one thing and it's another. We have a 2020 Christmas trip planned, and it's probably the last Disney trip with the kids before they are too old for it, so we are going to do it right. Staying on site, no value hotels, all that. The problem is I'm looking at prices for everything and its staggering how much prices have gone up. Once you do the airfare, hotels, tickets, meal plan, etc, we are at "home mortgage for a year" levels. Even doing value resorts, it's more expensive than any vacation we've ever taken. It's just stupid to the point that we might just not do Disney at all. We can't be the only ones making these same decisions. Maybe we'll get lucky and they will interpret the soft SWGE crowds as pricing blowback and drop prices. lol

 

[Scott W.]

Yeah, and I'm fearing this will also result in higher prices, when those are probably having a huge effect on weaker crowds. They blame one thing and it's another. We have a 2020 Christmas trip planned, and it's probably the last Disney trip with the kids before they are too old for it, so we are going to do it right. Staying on site, no value hotels, all that. The problem is I'm looking at prices for everything and its staggering how much prices have gone up. Once you do the airfare, hotels, tickets, meal plan, etc, we are at "home mortgage for a year" levels. Even doing value resorts, it's more expensive than any vacation we've ever taken. It's just stupid to the point that we might just not do Disney at all. We can't be the only ones making these same decisions. Maybe we'll get lucky and they will interpret the soft SWGE crowds as pricing blowback and drop prices. lol

I’ve heard so many people tell me recently that their next trip will be their last for a while. The prices have got ridiculous and there’s so many extras now.

From my first trip with my wife in 2012, parking was $12, now it’s $25. Add the drop in exchange rate in the U.K. and that’s a 3x price increase in only 7 years. Park tickets have almost doubled in the same period and you’re not close to getting twice the value.

If Disney introduce the rumoured paid for FP+, I think that will the be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for me and I’ll be done with Disney.

 

[Ryan]

The problem with SW:GE Is it's a glorified shopping mall with Star Wars attached to it. That approach to a themed land only worked with WWOHP because it is quite literally what those places you are experiencing are in the lore. You've read about the shops, the food, the experiences, seen them in the movies and now you get to go to a place and experience that yourself.

That's the strength of WWOHP, The land that started this whole thing.


Not one of these "mega themed" lands from Disney capture that in any kind of totality, and really the small things they did to inject their "Disney" brand all over the land has done disservice to the Star Wars brand (the same way some would argue TLJ did).



Some things just can't be "Disney", and as Disney acquires all of these new IP's, they will need to learn how to adapt them into their parks (and into media/ new experiences) based on the merits of the individual property vs the strength of Disney and their overarching brand, and just because it's Disney owned now does not give them power to do anything they want with it, as it will not only divide the fans, It damages the strength of the IP and then it becomes a coin-flip whether the changes will be accepted, or rejected.


The risk wasn't building Star Wars land... That's a no brainer... The risk was taking too much creative freedom with a newly acquired brand.

I've been there and it's not that. You get to fly the Millennium Falcon, doesn't anymore "iconic"-based than that. This has nothing to do with the actual land and more about the rollout.

 

[GAcoaster]

^ Agreed, and all I can say is they really should have waited until both attractions were ready to open for the opening of the land...

 

[Jamesh22]

ROTR really does have a lot of hopes resting on it's shoulders.

 

[Freak]

So I just got this email:


Basically, Passholder a get to bring a friend at a discounted price. Even if you’re blocked out, you can still pay discounted admission.

This is unheard of for Disney to do this. They are clearly unhappy with the lack of crowds.

EDIT: nevermind. Someone beat me to it.

 

[DragonSlayer]

^ Thanks for posting the email though, the wording is telling in the first paragraph: “Hey, look at all these things that aren’t SWGE to come and do!”

 

[Mad Dog]

Short ride times in both parks again today. Great time to visit.

 

[quinnmac000]

‘Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge’ Plagued By Free Souvenir Hunters – Deadline

 

[Nick]

If Disney introduce the rumoured paid for FP+, I think that will the be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for me and I’ll be done with Disney.

They already have - it's called MaxPass. And if memory serves correct, you really found value in it.